APRIL 1, 1963 -- That was the headline of a front page Birmingham News article detailing remarks made by Birmingham Chamber of Commerce official Caldwell Marks describing what the city must do to attract new business.

"They don't care if we have segregation or integration. They say that is a local problem for us to solve. But, they say if they are going to bring people here they want the climate to be free from violence. They want Birmingham to a be a law-abiding community of law and order," Marks said.

U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy and Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett continued to disagree on the continued presence of 300 U.S. military police officers following the 1962 integration of the University of Mississippi.

Barnett wanted the troops gone and did not respond to an offer to meet with Kennedy to discuss the situation.

The troops would be withdrawn, Kennedy wrote in a letter to Barnett, with "assurance ... you will carry out the basic responsibility of the state for maintaining law and order at the university."

A New York City newspaper strike that started in 1962 ended on this date after 114 days.

Quinim Pholsena, the Foreign Minister of Laos, was assassinated by a soldier assigned to protect him.